A BALLARAT man was apprehensive about his part as the getaway driver in an interstate scheme to rob JD’s Sports Bar of its Melbourne Cup takings in November 2011, a court heard yesterday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Phone intercepts read aloud in the County Court in Ballarat revealed that Tekin Saner, 31, told his co-conspirators he felt uneasy about acting as the driver because he “had to live here” and didn’t want to be seen.
Saner and New South Wales man Matthew Kamal, 30, appeared at the County Court in Ballarat yesterday, where they pleaded guilty to a range of charges, including conspiracy to commit armed robbery.
The court heard that the two men were arrested on November 2, 2011, after leaving with two other co-offenders from Saner’s Canadian Lakes home.
Special Operations Group police swooped on the two vehicles carrying the four men, boxing them in at 8.40am and foiling the robbery attempt.
They were arrested and a number of items seized, including a loaded handgun, cable ties and disguises.
The group believed they could steal $30,000 each from JD’s Sports Bar, because it was the day after the Melbourne Cup and gambling takings would be high, the court was told.
The court heard that phone intercepts and surveillance indicated the group had been planning the armed robbery for weeks.
The court also heard that the men had participated in earlier thefts and burglaries, and most of the stolen items were found at Saner’s house following the arrest.
Prosecutors submitted maximum sentence ranges of between five and seven years for Saner, but six-and-a-half to eight-and-a-half years for Kamal.
The court heard that Saner played a “lesser role” to some of his co-accused, but the defence conceded it was a “serious example” of the conspiracy charge.
Defence for Kamal said drugs had been an issue in the offending, but said the death of his father two months before his arrest also contributed.
Judge Lance Pilgrim said he would sentence both men on May 31.